male of animals

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components
牛 meaning component

  Meaning component

niú

  

cow

土 sound component

  Sound component

  

earth

Evolution

牡 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
牡 Bronze script Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)

Bronze script

Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)
牡 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
牡 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
牡 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

male of animals; bolt of door; (of a bird, animal or plant) male; key; hills

Most common words with 牡
Freq.
Word
Meaning

牡蛎

oyster

牡丹

Mudan District of Heze City 菏澤市|菏泽市[Hé​zé​Shì], Shandong

key

牡丹江

Mudanjiang prefecture level city in Heilongjiang province 黑龍江|黑龙江[Hēi​lóng​jiāng] in northeast China

牡丹江市

Mudanjiang prefecture level city in Heilongjiang province 黑龍江|黑龙江[Hēi​lóng​jiāng] in northeast China